Destroying the internet with cyberbullying

Madeline Parris, Social Media Lead|December 16, 2016

Teenagers are constantly on their phones making it easier to be exposed to the dangers of cyber bullying.

Bullying is the use of one’s power to harass another either physically or mentally. Bullying is degrading and humiliating for the victim and can damage a person’s character. But what happens when bullying evolves and electronics are involved?

Harassing another person through electronics and social media is called cyber bullying . This is typically done by sending and posting hateful messages. Because society today is so connected to social media, it’s almost impossible to keep one’s personal life off of the continuously growing social network. Although sharing one’s life on social media has many positives such as keeping up with family, giving and receiving feedback, or sharing pictures and videos from amazing experiences, the experience also comes with a lot of negatives. People tend to be judgmental, and they constantly question and argue with each other’s choices and opinions. Cyber bullying makes tormenting someone much easier because the act can occur behind the “protection” of the screen.

Confronting people online differs greatly from a face-to-face confrontation. When talking in person, an individual can physically see a person’s expressions, reactions, and body language. Online don’t even know the context of what may have been said. Someone can easily post a “joke” about another individual and it can be taken as a rude comment.

Cyber bullying has become a big issue within teens and young adults. This generation of tech savvy youth has the most involvement with social media. Most of the young population today, do not realize that they leave a cyber footprint. Most teens will do or say anything to get a rise out of their peers. They will go as far as making fun of a friend or spreading a rumor that isn’t true. But sometimes these antics are taken too far.

“It was surprising to see my friends turn around and make fun of me like that.” said student, Jose Moreno. Moreno experienced a cyber bullying incident his freshman year. His friends talked about him in the app “Groupme.” They made rude jokes about him and his family. These comments had to do with the amount of money his family had and how he couldn’t afford certain things. This goes to show cyber bullying can happen to any individual and that anyone is capable of being the bully.

Unfortunately, the school system is not great at taking action to fix these issues. An issue can be reported, but more than likely nothing will ever be done. In Lambert’s code of conduct, the section on prohibited behaviors, pages 14 to 15, states that if a student is found with the offense of bullying three or more times, they will then receive a tribunal hearing or alternate education. This allows the bully to carry this out. No punishment is put in place after the first or second time the incident occurs. Also, most cyber bullying takes place outside of school hours, this is a loophole for bullies because they don’t have to face the consequences.

Cyber bullying is a difficult thing to put an end to. Staying away from it, and stopping it when it occurs could change the issue by a landslide. Although telling a peer or an adult may feel humiliating, it is such a relief when the attention the problem needs is received.